A Blasphemous Premier?

Blasphemy 

the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.

"he was detained on charges of blasphemy"

Yesterday Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered a harried and fib-filled statement on the dumpster fire which his government ignited last week. The specific concern was the work stoppage by educational workers in the province who were legislated back to work and refused to do so because the legislation removed their legal right to collective bargaining. By the end of the day the bullies of the Conservative party had relented and today children will be back in school, at least for the time being, and we'll see whether the damage to the premier's credibility will be lasting. 

In the brief question period afterward a reporter threw in a question about the sneaky announcement on Friday afternoon about the decision to open up portions of the Green Belt to development despite Ford's repeated promises not to touch this swathe of land across the southern part of the province which is supposedly protected. This is clearly a broken promise, but rather than addressing the question he bounced around it.

At the end of this mess Ford intoned "God bless the people of Ontario". I'm surprised it wasn't the even more jingoistic "God bless the hard-working people of Ontario." Why would Ford or any politician include this benediction in a setting where fundamental rights are trammelled? 

I'm fairly confident that the word "blasphemy" won't be used in any pulpit of the United Church this year and I don't think I ever did during my ministry. But surely invoking God's blessings in these circumstances is perilously close to blasphemous. Doug, God was never on your side in this one, whether its the way you treat the people you were elected to serve or the environment which is home to all creatures and the watersheds on which we depend. 

I'm assuming that in a civilized society the only time Premier Ford will get stoned is when he's hiding from the electorate at his cottage, or maybe eventually at the ballot box. 

 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all who were within hearing lay their hands on his head, and let the whole congregation stone him.

                                         Leviticus 24:13-14